1. Statement on Dewey Loeffel Discharge of Treated Water
Into Valatie Kill
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
January 23, 2014
The EPA has completed its review of samples taken from two 20,000 gallon tanks
containing groundwater and liquid that seeps out of the landfill, called leachate, that
have been treated in the new treatment plant constructed at the Dewey Loeffel
Superfund site in Nassau, New York. The data show no detectable levels of most
contaminants tested for, including PCBs and the contaminant 1, 4 - dioxane. Detectable
levels of some metals, including mercury, were well below the limits set by New York
State Department of Environmental Conservation for discharging into the Valatie Kill.
Based on this data, EPA will allow the contents of the two tanks to be discharged into
the Valatie Kill beginning January 24, 2014.
Background:
The water treatment plant at the Dewey Loeffel site was built to treat contaminated
leachate and groundwater from the site so they do not need to be trucked through the
community to a distant treatment plant. The plant is being gradually brought up to full
capacity in order to ensure that it is working properly before any treated water is directly
released from the plant into the Valatie Kill.
As part of this process, the EPA is requiring that water treated in the plant be pumped
into tanks and thoroughly tested before going into the Valatie Kill. EPA will continue to
review data carefully before allowing the contents of each successive tank to be
discharged and will, along with the NYSDEC, determine when sufficient data exists to
support a discharge directly from the treatment plant to the Valatie Kill. The EPA will
continue to monitor the treated water and will ensure appropriate and protective
treatment methods are used moving forward.
The Dewey Loeffel Landfill Site is located in southern Rensselaer County, New York,
approximately four miles northeast of the village of Nassau. From 1952 until 1968, the
site was used for the disposal of an estimated 46,000 tons of waste materials generated
by several Capital District companies including General Electric, Bendix Corporation
(now Honeywell International, Inc. and Schenectady Chemicals (now SI Group, Inc.).
The waste included industrial solvents, waste oils, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs),
scrap materials, sludge and solids. Volatile organic compounds and other hazardous
substances have seeped out of the landfill and contaminated the ground water. PCBs
have also moved downstream, causing contamination of sediment and several species
of fish in and near Nassau Lake. For more information, and to view the sampling results,
visit http://www.epa.gov/r02earth/superfund/npl/dewey/.